Planned Parenthood sees 'unprecedented' surge in out-of-state patients at Illinois clinics

Planned Parenthood of Illinois said Monday that it is seeing an "unprecedented" increase in the number of people coming from out of state for reproductive service in the two years since the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed states to enact their own restrictions on abortions.

Planned Parenthood said that it has seen patients from 41 states over the course of the past two years, now encompassing some 25% of all patients seen at the 19 in-person facilities and two virtual facilities across Illinois.

Overall, the group said that it had experienced a 47% increase in overall patients over the past two years since the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization that the U.S. Constitution did not guarantee the right to an abortion, overruling the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision and the 1992 Planned Parenthood vs. Casey decision that upheld the former.

Most patients, according to Planned Parenthood, come from border states such as Wisconsin and Indiana, each with more restrictive regulations on abortion.

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The organization reported that it had been getting more patients from places like Tennessee and Kentucky as well, many of them traveling to the recently opened Carbondale facility for treatment.

Planned Parenthood said that 90% of abortion patients at that Carbondale office, which opened last December, come from 16 different states, with seven topping the list – Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Indiana, Arkansas, Alabama and Missouri.

The Carbondale office has also seen a 20% increase in the number of people coming from out of state to seek gender-affirming care, compared to 5% for other facilities across Illinois.

Along with the opening of the Carbondale facility, Planned Parenthood also opened new offices in Flossmoor and Waukegan while also expanding services at its Champaign facility and moving into new offices in the North Loop of Chicago.

'Incredible need'

Jennifer Welch, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said in a news release that the increased response shows the demand remains in place for the kinds of reproductive services the organization provides on a daily basis.

"We know banning or restricting abortion does not stop the need for abortion care," Welch said. "The flood of health care refugees coming to the Carbondale Health Center shows the incredible need for essential sexual and reproductive care such as abortion and gender-affirming care."

In central Illinois, Planned Parenthood maintains facilities in Peoria, Springfield, Bloomington, Decatur and Champaign, with each providing varying degrees of reproductive services. Both the Champaign and Springfield offices offer surgical procedures for abortion, while the Peoria, Bloomington and Decatur facilities only provide the medication necessary to terminate it without surgery.

Peoria's facility recently reopened after renovations following a firebombing in January 2023.

A Chillicothe man, 32-year-old Tyler W. Massengill, threw a Molotov cocktail threw a window at the facility on Jan. 15, 2023, out of frustration that his girlfriend had received an abortion against his wishes. He pled guilty a month later and was sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal charges of malicious use of fire and an explosive to damage a building.

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